Chapter 277 - Punch
The entire room remained quiet.
No one dared to say anything while King Skythunder spoke.
Shang took a deep breath through his nose, narrowed his eyes, and walked forward.
Shang's light footsteps echoed throughout the silent throne room.
The walk was painfully long since there was still quite some distance between him and King Skythunder.
During the walk, Shang was uncertain about what was waiting for him.
After several seconds, Shang stopped in front of the steps to King Skythunder's throne.
"I don't like repeating myself," King Skythunder said in his deep voice.
Then, Shang slowly walked up the steps.
At this moment, Shang felt like he was climbing a mountain.
Approaching the Thunder Horse wouldn't have been nearly as difficult as approaching King Skythunder.
The Thunder Horse didn't show any aggression as long as it didn't see Shang, but King Skythunder gave off a terrifying pressure.
Walking up to him felt like one was provoking him.
A couple of steps later, Shang arrived on top of the platform, and he stopped just one meter in front of King Skythunder.
The others still didn't dare to say anything.
King Skythunder looked evenly into Shang's eyes.
"Punch me with your full power."
Shang's eyes narrowed even more, and he clenched his fists.
Right now, Shang knew that he was in a lot of danger.
He had no idea how far he should go.
If Shang used too little power, King Skythunder might get annoyed again since Shang hadn't followed his orders.
What place should he punch?
The chest?
The face?
At that moment, Shang remembered his first meeting with the God.
Would King Skythunder even care?
Shang knew that he couldn't injure King Skythunder, even if he used Entropy to sacrifice his entire body.
It was impossible for him to injure him.
BANG!
An icy explosion came out of Shang's feet, and he exploded forward with all of his speed.
He pulled his arm back.
And then, he punched forward.
BANG!
Another icy explosion came out of Shang's right elbow, making the punch even stronger.
And then…
Shang's fist hit the middle of King Skythunder's face.
BANG!
An explosion of ice came out of Shang's fist, hiding King Skythunder's head behind icy mist.
At the same time, due to the power, Shang's right fist turned into mush as nearly all the bones in his hand and forearm broke into pieces.
And then, Shang stepped back as his arm fully regenerated in a second.
King Skythunder wanted Shang to punch him with all his power, and Shang did just that.
The Mages in the Council lifted their eyebrows in surprise.
The group of warriors looked at Shang in terror.
A second later, the white clouds vanished from King Skythunder's head.
King Skythunder hadn't moved, and his expression hadn't changed.
Obviously, he was uninjured.
He only continued looking into Shang's eyes.
"Show me your Affinity," King Skythunder ordered.
At that moment, Shang, Duke Whirlwind, and the Dean became nervous.
This was bad!
Shang looked into King Skythunder's eyes.
He felt like he was back in the trial.
This felt very similar to how the God had played with Shang.
Shang had to make the correct decision if he wanted to survive.
For a second, there was only silence.
"I can't."
Shang's words rang throughout the room, and the entire atmosphere changed.
Shang had declined King Skythunder's order.
The Dean's eyes narrowed.
But in comparison to the Dean, Duke Whirlwind's eyes shone.
A second after Shang spoke these words, King Skythunder smirked.
"I know," he said.
The people in the room felt confused by King Skythunder's answer.
What did he mean by that he knew?
What did he know?
That this warrior couldn't show his Affinity?
Meanwhile, Duke Whirlwind, the Dean, and Shang knew exactly what the King meant.
The King had said that he knew what Affinity Shang had.
He knew that Shang was essentially part Abomination.
Shang looked into King Skythunder's eyes.
"How?" he asked.
The group of warriors became terrified again while the Council furrowed their brows.
He was asking King Skythunder a question as a lowly General Stage warrior.
Why had Shang done so?
Because he trusted Duke Whirlwind.
Duke Whirlwind had explained King Skythunder's personality, and Shang trusted Duke Whirlwind.
Everyone was the same for King Skythunder.
Shang's status didn't matter.
"The Thunder Horse," King Skythunder answered almost immediately. It was almost like he didn't find it strange for Shang to ask him something. "It marked you."
Shang remembered the lightning bolt that had hit him.
That was a mark?
"Thank you," Shang said without moving.
"You may return," King Skythunder said.
Shang turned around and walked down the steps.
"That was a good punch," King Skythunder said as Shang descended.
"Thank you," Shang said again without turning around.
Usually, when interacting with a person of such status, it was customary to say their title, turn to them, and bow while speaking.
However, Shang had full trust in Duke Whirlwind's judgment of King Skythunder.
Shang knew that he wasn't even remotely close to King Skythunder's power, and Duke Whirlwind had said that as long as someone had genuine respect for King Skythunder's power, there wouldn't be any problems.
On top of that, if Shang were in King Skythunder's place, he would maybe also get annoyed by the constant deferential bowing from others. It was nice for a little bit, but it would get annoying very quickly.
King Skythunder probably preferred if things were direct, honest, and simple.
Just the fact that King Skythunder didn't wear a shirt showed what kind of person he was.
He obviously only cared about power.
He didn't care about prestige, politics, wealth, status, or whatever.
His power was absolute, and he was above everyone else.
And if someone disagreed?
He would just kill them.
Shang stopped at his previous spot and turned to the King like everyone else.
Then, King Skythunder looked at another member of the group.
"You, approach," he ordered.
The warrior's body shook, and he slowly stepped forward in fear.
When he reached the steps, his body began to shake, but he still climbed them.
After a long time, he managed to stop in front of King Skythunder, but his entire body was shaking in fear and terror.
King Skythunder only looked at him evenly.
"Punch me with your full power," he ordered.
The body of the warrior shook even more.
He slowly pulled back his fist, and after a second, he punched King Skythunder's chest.
BANG!
But instead of hitting King Skythunder, the warrior was shot into the distance by an invisible force.
BOOOM!
The warrior's body hit the hard ground with his head, which split open, scattering his brain all over the throne room.
His corpse tumbled for about thirty more meters, leaving a bloody trail of brain behind until it eventually stopped near the door.
The warriors took deep breaths in shock and terror.
Everybody else didn't react at all.
Then, King Skythunder looked at the Dean.
"Is that how you train your students?" he asked.
Everyone turned to the Dean.
The Dean looked evenly into King Skythunder's eyes.
"Yes," he answered.
A moment of silence passed, and the Dean continued.
"I can teach them how to fight, but I can't teach them courage and willpower," the Dean said.
By now, the group of warriors had fallen into terror.
One of them had died, and the Dean was now seemingly confronting King Skythunder.
"Teach them how to fight?" King Skythunder repeated with even eyes.
And then, King Skythunder stood up from his throne.
Now, the full size of King Skythunder's body was unveiled, and it definitely wasn't small.
King Skythunder was probably over two meters tall!
Crack!
King Skythunder cracked one of his fists as he looked at the Dean.
"Why don't you teach me how to fight?"
BOOOOM!
And King Skythunder suddenly shot forward with unreal speeds, right towards the Dean!